Unknown little black box with arrow and 'A' in it stays on the screen

[IJmir]

For no apparent reason, there is a little black box on my screen with a white open, compacted arrow in it and inside the arrow an 'A' (see screenshot). The screenshot shows Mediaplayer open but it is there constantly, independent of which program I am using. It seems 'dead': clicking on it (either right or left) results in nothing. How can I remove it? Now that I have made the screenshot, suddenly there is an arrow through it.
Thanks for advice! IJmir

 

[koolkat77]

since when is this house appearing?

 

[IJmir]

@Koolkat: since about a week and a half or so

 

[koolkat77]

did you install any software/make any changes with windows media player by any chance back then?

 

[IJmir]

I think I installed Wavepad and perhaps also a thumbnail tweaker programme. However, when I did that on my previous laptop I did not get this box. Also Microsoft Office downloaded updates and so did Adobe

 

[mickey megabyte]

if it appears each time you boot your computer, then it must be in your autostart list.

type msconfig into your start-menu searchbox, goto the startup tab and see which entries are ticked.

you can probably work out the offending start-up entry yourself, but if you need more help, post up a screemshot of your msconfig startup tab.

 

[IJmir]

Wavepad is software to edit music files. So I do edit music files that I choose from Mediaplayer playlists that I made before and I use Wavepad for the editing

 

[Petey7]

It reminds me of the images that appear on some OEM computers when Caps lock or Num lock is turned on and off. What brand computer are you using and did it come with a lot of pre-installed OEM bloatware?

 

[mickey megabyte]

It reminds me of the images that appear on some OEM computers when Caps lock or Num lock is turned on and off. What brand computer are you using and did it come with a lot of pre-installed OEM bloatware?

well done. i reckon it's a thinkpad caps-lock.

 

[IJmir]

@Mickey: I found 'Smart Audio Control Panel Application' in the Start Up menu. That may well be the one because I also get a transparent temporary control panel every now and then from the same time as when the box started appearing. And that pop-up panel seems to be an audio control panel. I unticked the above Appl. and restarted the laptop.
OK, and then I read Petey's comment. And yes: it's the Caps lock !! Strange though, that it stayed on the screen and didn't go away. (And by the way: what does an 'A' have to do witch caps ....??). Mickey's assumption triggered by Petey's comment is corrrect: it's a Thinkpad. I am using a Lenovo Edge (and am down to my third hard drive since I bought it 6 months ago !!!!! What a lousy machine !!!).
But it may be that I caught 2 birds in 1 hand now because I may have solved the box problem AND this annoying pop-up control panel. So THANKS!! both for your advice and help!

 

[Petey7]

I can't say specifically why an "A", but I can say that back when it was decided to include Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock on computer keyboards it was also decided that an indicator of some sort was needed to let people know that those were on, so it was decided to use a row of LEDs and each one needed something unique to tell them apart, and using those symbols underneath the lights was decided upon, although on some older keyboards, the lights are spaced out more with the words Caps/Num/Scroll lock written underneath the light. Now a days laptop manufacturers have decided to leave out the LEDs and include software which indicates when they are on.

 

[boohbah]

it definitely is caps lock, if you press numbers lock you will probably see the housey arrow icon with a number 1 in it,

im using a lenovo laptop atm and it has the caps indicators with led's and the icon.

 

[IJmir]

The housy icon with A is gone (was Caps Lock) but the other stuff (that I tought was connected) is still happening: like when I adjust the sound by using the loadspeeaker icon on the toolbar a slide bar pops up that shows the sound level being adjusted - which is not necessary because the loadspeaker facility on the toolbar does that already. It is of the same design as the Caps Lock box: black, blunt and ugly. So I guess an OEM thing. Strange though, that it only apppears now - with my third (!!!!) hard drive put in and not before. But I guess that will have toi be another thread ......

 

[Petey7]

No, you don't need to make another thread. Probably best to keep it all contained to one actually.

Go to control panel and open Programs and Features. Maximize the window and take a screen shot (instructions in tutorial below). Attach it to your next post so that we can see what OEM software is installed. From there we should be able to help you either disable or uninstall the software.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9717-screenshot-paint.html

 

[IJmir]

Great!
Here you go. Thanks

 

[mickey megabyte]

it may be easier to look at your msconfig startup list - that way you can simply disable startup apps rather than completely uninstall them while you're looking for the culprit.

in your screenshot above, that 'On Screen Display' program looks like a promising candidate...

 

[Petey7]

I believe the On Screen Display software is the culprit based on its name and the discription of the software on Lenovo's website. I would recommend turning off via MSconfig is you can, or if you want to remove it that should be fine.

 

[boohbah]

i have a similar volume level indicator when i use Fn and the left/right arrows but when i use the speaker icon in the systems tray it doesnt show the lenovo volume display.

im not sure how to stop it and if you delete it you may lose other indicators like the trackpad disable /enabled icon and other fn key features.

 

[Petey7]

It might be worth creating a system restore point before making any change.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html

 

[IJmir]

I created a system restore point just to be sure. I couldn't turn off On Screen Display in Msconfig because I didn't see it there. So I uninstalled it. I now no longer get the sound level indicator - hurray. So far, I am not aware of anything not functioning properly as a result - but then I don't think I ever use the Fn keys.
The less clutter on the screen the better!! THANKS ALL for your help!